Valves



Nov. 25, 1958 A. F. scHuMANN 2,861,769

VALVES Filed July 1e. 1953 2 sheetsfsneet 1 Nom-25, 1958 v A.YF. scHUMANN 4 VALVES Filed July 1e, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patents() 2,861,769 VALVES Alfred F. Schumann, Lower Merion, Pa.

Application July 16, 1953, Serial No. 368,325

7 Claims. (Cl. 251-86) This invention relates to valves kand particularly toY a valve incorporated in a burner for controlling the flow of liquid or gaseous fuel to the fuel nozzle of the burner.

This application is a continuation-impart of copending application Serial No. 109,983, filed August 12, 1949, upon which U. S. Letters Patent 2,672,190 has issued.

In accordance with the present invention, the' movable valve element is of conical shape with a peripherally extending metering slot in communication with an internal flow passage. The valve element is freelyA floating and is maintained seated in a ported conical recess-of an associated valve body by aspring means. iiexible coupling between the valve element and its external operating member insures that the valve element -is free to rotate about an axis defined by the engaged conical surfaces of the valve element and ofthe body recess. The force applied'by .the spring to thevalve element opposes the axial component of force due 'to'- the inlet pressure of the controlled fluid so that'the valve does not jam at higher input pressures but on the contrary is easierfto operate, the force of the springy being sufficient, however, to maintain seating engagement of the valve element at the maximum input pressure of its intended operating range. v

Further, and in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, theperipheral metering slotl of 'the valve element is a rectangular groove of fixed width and of progressively increasing depth to afford a substantially linear relationship'between the'angular position o f the valve and liquid flow which can be obtained by ajsimple machining operation and which is' maintained despite subsequent wear in service. lFurthenrthe groove, whether rectangular or of other cross section, terminates in a large radial passage which can be aligned with Vthe inlet port/for clearing the valveA of sludge particles toolarge to pass the metering groove. f

The invention further resides in features ofv construe# tion and arrangement hereinafter described and claimed.

yFor a more complete understanding of the invention and for illustration of several embodiments thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings inrwhich:

Fig. 1 is a sectionaly View, in side elevation, of a burner incorporating one form of fuel valve embodying thel invention; e r y A Fig. 2 is an exploded View showing ,some parts of the fuel valve of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front elevational view `of the rotatable valve element of Fig. 2;'

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of Fig.Y 3;` e

Fig. 5 is a 'sectional View, in side elevation, of a modiiication ofthe valve Velement shown in Figs. 2-4;

Figs. 6A, 6B, invplanand in sectional elevation, the developed shape of the peripheral'grooveof Fig. 5.;

Fig. 7 Vis l,a sectionalyiew, in side elevation, of amodication ofthe'fuel valve of Fig. lgvand FigY 8 is 'alsectional Vview taken 1on .line 8 -8 o f Fig. 7.

Mlee

2 attached to the front face of a burner tile plate 11 as by bolts 12. TheA burner tile 13 of suitable refractory material extends from the rear facel of tile plate 11 and has an opening 14 diverging from the tile plate 11 to form an ignition or combustion chamber of a furnace. The housing member -15 of burner 10 is provided with a main chamber 16 which may receive air at a preselected constant pressure from` aline 17 and is also provided with -an auxiliary chamber 18 in part defined by front wall 19 of housing 15 and by an internal wall 20 thereof. The inner air nozzle 21 is rotatably received by aligned openings in the walls 19, 20 and extends .through fthe main air chamber 16 With its discharge'tip 22 within the outer air nozzle 23. y v 1 The outer air nozzle 23 extendslfrom Ithe rear wall 25 of housing 15 and is attached thereto as fby bolts 24. The housing 15 is mounted ontheffro'nt end of'a'conical bracket or housing 26 attached ,to the front faceof tile plate 11. As the outerk nozzle 23 is attached to the burner housing 15 which in turnis attached by Vbracket 26 to tile plate 11, the spacing betweenthe tip of the o'uter air nozzle and the throat of -the tile opening is fixed. The distances from the discharge end of the inner air nozzle to the discharge endrof the outer air nozzle and to the throat of thetile opening14 are also eachinvariable:

- specifically,` collar 27 securedA to the inner airnozzle- 21 show -f Referring; fo/ Eigalf the bans? essential". isshgwa z bears againstthe outer face of front wall 19 of housing 15 and a shoulder of the inner airnozzle bears against the rear face of internalA wall -20,"thus to'preclude axial or longitudinalrmpovement 'of the rotatable innernozzle The forward part 'of inner nozzle21 passes through bearing member 28 having passages for ow of air from main chamber 16 tothe converging passage between the discharge tips 22, 3l)` ofthe air nozzles. -The effective cross sectional area of this passageIis variable by ...sleeve 31 slidable along the inner nozzle 21. Asrnore fully shown in aforesaid application, SerialNo;` 109,983, ynow Patent No. 2,672,190, thesleeve31 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 32 which receives a pin 33 extending from the inner nozzle `21 and is also` provided with an-angularly extending slot 34 which receives a pin 35 retained by plug 36 in fixed-position. Y

Thus as inner nozzle 21?V is Vrotated in one direetion or the other, the sleeve 31 issmoved axially along nozzle 21 to vary the effective width of the converging air passage terminating atthe annular discharge orifice forniellby the tips 22, 30 of the air nozzles.v The pitch of the angular slot 34 may be so chosen that 90 rotation of inner nozzle 21. corresponds withl full travelof sleeve '31,., The relationship between the angularpos'it'ion of air nozzle 21 and the amount of secondary'air discharged'from the outer air nozzle is Asubstantially linear.A l

'Since the aforesaid adjustmentof secondary airis ob? tained withoutchanging the positions of Ytips 22, 3010i the `air nozzles with respect to the throat of tile opening ,14, theeiiciencyhof induction ,ofatr'nospheric air yby. the jet action of the burner discharging .isnot impaired .by c ontrol of the secondary air to obtain different combiis'-, tion rates. f

To afford adjustment Aofsleeve 31 to-itslvarious positions, there isprovided anair control "lever: 38 having a hub 39which1receives'the external end1 ofinner air nozzle 21 and is attached .thereto as'by set screw 40. The index 41 attached to or integral with arm k 3,8coop'erateswith an fAirj scale 42 onthe front` face 19v of the `valve hus ing 15.fT h'e scale 4 2 isklinear andmay be calibratedlin arbitrary numericalunits or it may, for va particulardnstallation using a'predetermined v.fixed air pressure, be calibrated Iin unitsl of weight-*pf air per` minute; I. Y VA,.ryllitliir-1, ali'dginterrnelateihe ends? ofv `inner `airnozzle 21, there may be provided a ported bearing 43 for support of fuel nozzle 44 having its discharge end or tip within the discharge tip 22 of inner air nozzle 21 for atomizationoffuel Voil bly the primary air. Theopposite or inlet end of fuel 'nozzle 44 is 'attached to and received bythe hub of a stationary vmember 46 which forms the back part or plate of the fuelvalve housing or body 52 later described. The-inner nozzle 21 is provided with 'a seriesl of ports 49 which provide-for communication with the -auxiliary air chamber 18: it may also be` pro- "vided with a second series of ports 47 for admission of primary air from the main chamber 16. The ports 47 are -tangential to impart aswirling'fmotion to the air.

With valve 50 closed, there 'is nopassage of air` from the auxiliary chamber 18 into nozzle 21 and consequently, Vthe ratio of angular to linear velocity of the primary air is high, resulting in a conical amewhich is short .and broad. As valve 50y isrprogressively opened, more and more air passes throughports 49 to increase the amount of air moving linearly of the nozzle. Consequently, the pitch of the primary air spiral is increased with resultant lengthening and narrowing of the llame.

The valve for controlling admission `of fuel to nozzle 44 includes the -body'member 52 having a conical recess or chamber53 provided with an linlet port 54 in communication with line 55 which supplies liquid fuel at preselected constant pressure. The conical recess 53 receives a conical valve element 56 having a peripheral metering slot 57 (Figs. l to 4) of rectangular cross section which progressively increases in depth from the periphery of valve element 56 and terminates in a radial passage 58 of substantially larger cross sectional area. vThe passage 58 extends to the axial bore 59 (Fig. 4) of the valve element 56 and so provides for passage of fluid lfrom supply line 55 (Fig. 1) to the bore of the fuel-nozzle 44 in amount dependent upon the angular setting of valve element 56. To clear the fuel valve of sludge particles too large to pass through the metering groove 57, the valve element 56 is momentarily turned to the position for which the large radial passage 58 is in alignment with inlet port 54.

The arcuate length of .groove 57 may be substantially in excess of 90 and inv initial machining of the valve element may approximate 180. As the progressively deeper passage'57 is of rectangularcross section, the relationship between the angular position of valve element 576 and the amount of-liqu'idfpassed bythe valve per unit of time is linear. AThemetering groove 7 may be aclcurat'ely formed by a simple inexpensive machining operation; for example, one or two passes of a milling cutter. The -axis of the cutter may be parallel to the axis ofthe conical valve element'56; or cutting of the groove shown in Figs."l to 4, the axis -of the cutter is parallel to the inclined side of the valve andin a plane passing through lthe axis of -thevalve element. A further advantage of the rectangularjperipheral groove construction is that the aforesaid linear relationship is -true of valves so constructed leven "th'oghin machining or honing them to nished dimensions "there are inevitable slight differences in'the arcuate length of Ygroove 57 of the valve. To accommodate inevitable slight differences in machining of the valve and of their :recessed .conical seats embodying member 52, the width or diameter of inlet port 54 is somewhat greater than the width of groove 57.v l

As shown in Fig. l, valve element 56 is free or floating to Vinsure it isV always'properly seated in the body recess 53. Specically,"the`conical valve element 56 is biased into seatingengagement with the conical recess of body member 52 -by spring 60 interposed between the rear face or'endof valve element 56 and backplate 46: Vthe conical valve element'56fis connected to -the'valvestem 61, or equivalent-operating member,l through ya flexible Vor Vfloating vcoupling 62Y which 'provides angular vcorrespondence between the'positions of the-valve Istem and the valve element while permitting these members -to have lrelative Vbe subjected in the same or different installations.

axial movement and freedom to rotate about independent axes which may not be inperfect alignment due to inevitable slight inaccuracies in machining or assembly. The coupling element 62 is free to move to appreciable extent in the direction of its axis and also in direction normal thereto while maintaining a drive connection between valve stem 61 and valve element 56.

A significant feature of this construction is that the valve element 56 is always free to rotate about an axis dened by the engaged conical surfaces of the valve element 56 and of its seating recess inthe valve body without cramping due to any-tendency of its operating stem 61 to rotate about a somewhat different axis. The valve body and valve element have no engaging surfaces other than their conical surfaces which alone determine the alignment and axis of rotation of the valve element. Freedom of the valve element to locate and freely turn in its seat continues' after long use since, because `of Vthe permitted axial .movement of the valveelement relative toits stem,.the' spring v60 maintains the conical surfaces in seating engagementas they wear. The torque required to turn the valve element56 doesnot .increase with increased supply pressure of .the controlled fluid. On ythe contrary, the required torque is decreased with increased supply pressure because the axial component ofthe .force -applied to the conical surface of valve element 56 by the controlled fluid tends to unseat the valve rather than jam it into the body recess. The force of spring 60, however, opposes vand overcomes such axial component and maintains the valve seated throughout the range of supplied pressures to which the fuel valve is intended to The differential between -the spring force and the aforesaid axial component of `the supply pressure decreases with increased supplyl pressure in avoidance of difficulty or impossibility of `operating the valve at the higher supply pressures.

The flexible coupling for connecting the valve element 56 to its stem Y61 may be of any suitable type: in the particular type shown, one face of the coupling member 62 has a ridge 63 (Fig. 2) received by a groove 63a in the forward face or end of valve element 56 and has a groove 64 -in its opposite :face to receive the projection 64a of a coupling member attached to or formed at the -rear end of the valvel stem 61. Tothe forward end of stem61, vwhich projects through the boss 65 to valve housing 52, is removably attached a pointer or index 66 (Fig. 1). The Fuel scale 68 -for index 66 may be attached to or `inscribed upon the front wall of valve housing 52. The arm-.69 for actuating the valve element 56 is attached, asby a set screw, to the hub of index mem` ber-66.

In the mixing valve thus far described, the sleeve 31 may be actuated by 'arm 38 to effect linear control of the flow :of air and arm 69 may be actuated to effect linear control of the 4ow of fuel. As now briefly described and as more fully described and'claimed in copending application Serial No. 269,739, these two arms may be connected by-a proportioning linkage which provides for their concurrent actuation withfproper proportionality of their individual adjustments as preselected to maintain a fuel-air ratio corresponding with a neutral, a reducing or an oxidizing llame. In the particular proportioning linkage shownin Fig. 1,the arms 38 and 69 are coupled by link`70 which is pivotally connected to arm 38 by a pin 71 which extendsthrough the boss 72 of arm 38. A similar pivot 74 which extends through boss 75 of arm 69 is slidably receivedv by a-slot 77 in the opposite end of link 70. The link70 is also provided with a central slotA 78 which receives a-fulcrurn device 79 adjustable to vary the. ratio betweenf concurrent movements of arms 38, 69. InFig.- l, the upper part of. link 70 is broken away to show the'slots 77, 78. .The xed bracket member-80 through which'the'fulcrum device v79 is adjustably secured'is atta'ched'to the fuelvalveA body 52 by'means not shown and this subassembly is in turn secured to the main housing member of the burner by means not shown.

The gas burner ring 92 attached to tile plate 11 need not be used when the furnace is tired exclusively from the burner 10: if provided for alternative or combined s use of gas and liquid fuel, ring 92 serves as the throat of the tile opening when the furnace is `oil-fired. Another mixing valve arrangement for oil and/ or gas-firing which uses the fuel valve construction herein claimed is shown in the aforesaid application Serial No. 269,739.

In the modified form of fuel valve element shown in Fig. 5, the metering groove 57A is of triangular cross section rather than rectangular as in Figs. 2 to 4. The desired linear relationship between the angular position of valve element 56A with respect to inlet port 54 (Fig. 1) and the llow through the valve may be obtained by properly correlating the facewidth of the triangular slot (Fig. 6A) to the depth of the slot (Fig. 6B) for each increment of length of the sl-ot. This involves a rather costly and tedious machining operation and in honing of the valve element to linal dimensions or in subsequent wear after prolonged use, this essential relationship of width to depth per increment of length may be impaired. However, such valve element 56A may be substituted for the valve element 56 of Figs. l and 2 and retains the important feature thereof that it is free to rotate about the independent axis defined by the seating surfaces themselves and is free to move axially under the influence of spring 60, all without restraint by the valve stem 61 or other operating member. The mixing valve of Fig. 1 so modified also has the feature that increasing the supply line pressure cannot jam the valve or make it more diiiicult to turn.

Like the valve element 56 of Fig. 1, the valve element 56A may have a rear hub 81 to receive the spring 60. Alternatively, either of these valve elements may have the outlet bore enlarged to receive the spring 60: such enlargement 81A of the bore is shown in Fig. 5.

The fuel valves thus far described are particularly suited for low throughputs of fuel oil, for example, of the order of from 5 to 100 gallons per hour; for substantially higher throughputs with the same physical size of the rotatable valve element, for example, of the order of from 100 to 1000 gallons per hour, it is preferable to use the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This modification is also particularly suited for controlling gaseous fuel. In this modification, as in those previously described, the valve element 56B is conical and is biased into seating engagement with the corresponding conical recess in valve body 52B by spring 60. Also as in the preceding modifications, the valve element 56B is connected to its operating member through a liexible coupling so that it is free to rotate about the axis defined by the engaged conical surfaces of the valve element and of the recess.

However in this modification, the metering slot 57B is in ydirect communication with the outlet bore 59B throughout the length of the slot, so to provide, in cooperation with one or the other end of the elongated inlet port 54B, a flow passage of rectangular cross sectional area varying linearly with the angular position of the valve element. The slot 57B may simply be formed by a milling cutter or saw. Ordinarily the angular length of slot 57B will be somewhat less than 180 and will be substantially equal to the length of the elongated inlet port 54B.

In all modifications disclosed, the assembly comprising the fuel nozzle and the fuel valve is removable as a unit from the mixing valve for replacement or repair without removal of the mixing valve from the furnace.

Features herein disclosed but not claimed are claimed in aforesaid copending applications Serial Nos. 109,983. now Patent No. 2,672,190, and 269,739.

It shall be understood the invention is not limited to the illustrated forms thereof and that changes and modi- 6 cations may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A valve comprising a body member having a conical recess with a port extending outwardly from aside thereof, an operating member supported by said body member for rotation about an axis, biasing spring means, a conical valve member axially biased by said spring means into seating engagement with said recess for rotation about an independentaxis continuously determined by the conical seating Asurfaces and which initially or with wear may be out of alignment with said axis of the operating member, said valve member having an internal ow passage extending to a peripheral metering slot cooperating with said port of the body member, and means coupling said operating member to said conical valve member including a rotatable coupling element having freedom of axial movement for continued maintenance by said spring means of the seating engagement between said conical surfaces despite their wear and having freedom of radial movement for free rotation of said conical valve member about its aforesaid independent axis as at all times determined by the aforesaid engaging conical surfaces.

2. A valve as in claim 1 in which the peripheral slot throughout its length extends directly to said internal passage of the valve element.

3. A valve as in claim 1 in which the peripheral slot is of fixed width and throughout its length extends directly to said internal passage of the valve element.

4. A valve as in claim 1 in which the supply pressure applied to said conical valve member through said port opening tends to unseat said valve without restraint by said operating member vor said coupling means in avoidance of increase with increase of supply pressure of the torque required to turn the valve member, and in which the seating force applied solely to said conical valve member by the biasing spring is greater than the axial force component of the supply pressure as applied solely to the conical surface of the valve member.

5. A valve as in claim 4 in which the peripheral metering slot is a groove which progressively increases in cross-sectional area angularly of the valve member and in which the internal iiow passage is of greater crosssectional area for tiushing the valve of particles too large to pass through the metering groove.

6. A valve as in claim 5 in which the slot is a rectangular groove and of progressively increasing depth and in which the deep end of the groove terminates in a circular iiow passage of uniform diameter greater than the groove width.

7. A valve as in claim 4 including a second body member overlying the larger end of said conical recess and engaging the biasing spring means, a mounting hub extending from the outer face of said second body member, and a ow passage through said hub and second body member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 762,936 Paige June 21, 1904 946,228 Kenlon Jan. 11, 1910 1,883,727 Hawley Oct. 18, 1932 2,351,372 Snyder June 13, 1944 2,424,328 Pars July 22, 1947 2,449,833 Barnes Sept. 21, 1948 2,494,183 Lincoln Jan. 10, 1950 2,723,102 Mueller Nov. 8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 737,686 France of 1932 412,499 Great Britain June 28, 1934 458,554 Great Britain of 1936 1,006,998 France Apr. 29, 1952 

